Hey everyone! So I've been writing a lot more lately and have been working on a few short stories. I wrote this one a couple weeks ago and I just finished polishing it. If you guys wanna give it a read, go ahead, and if you'd like to leave any comments, feedback, suggestions or anything like that, please do!

This is the first time I've written something like this, in a completely different writing style than I normally have so please let me know what you think.

Anyway, here is a story I wrote in response to this prompt: Your religion's most holy artifact is stolen. You are sent to retrieve it by any means necessary, but along the way you lose your faith.

That's what they called me. That's what they told me I was. That's what they proclaimed as I left the gates of the Holy Land.
I was a Crusader on a Holy Mission, to retrieve the most Holy of all Artifacts from our enemy, at any means necessary. I had trained for this Mission my entire Life. Ever since I was a boy, ever since I was sent to the Grand Mosque, it was in dedication to the Gods and to the Holy Leaders. For them to select me, out of all the others, was the greatest honor I could achieve. I was leading this Grand Crusade and I would not fail the Gods.

A Grand Crusade of prayer and hope, of love and sacrifice. A Grand Crusade in the Name of the Gods. A Grand Crusade that had soon turned into one of lies and deceit, of hatred and tyranny that I had not seen until I left the Holy Land all those years ago.
I had traveled through the Mosques of my country, prayed to my Gods, and ventured into the forests of our Holy Land. I had traveled across the Seas of the Gods. I had mounted excursions into the deserts of our enemy.

I had slain hundreds in pursuit of the Holy Artifact. I had watched countless others fall by my side. And I, alone, walked out of each battle. I, alone, survived each and every challenge that the Gods had laid before me.

Yet I had done it. I had traveled thousands of miles. I was now staring at the most Holy of all Artifacts. Here I was, on the precipice of my Mission. Here I was, with a chance to prove to our Land that Our Gods truly existed and through them I was able to achieve greatness.

But I had learned much these past years. I had learned that the Gods did not protect me or my brothers and sisters. I had learned that through sheer Will, and Will alone, I had survived.

For at each step, Our Gods had abandoned me and my brothers and sisters in arms. At each moment, they grew farther away from all of us. At each turn, they betrayed each and every one of us. From the moment I left the Sanctity of the Grand Mosque, they had led me to death, destruction, and disaster. They had destroyed my friends, gave power to the enemy, and wounded me in my core. My Crusade for my Gods had changed me.

And as I held the Artifact in my hands, as I felt it's radiance and purity, I could hear the name.

Crusader!

A Crusader who had killed hundreds in the name of Holiness and Righteousness. A Crusader who had destroyed cities in order to get here. A Crusader who had learned. A Crusader whose Gods had abandoned him.

As I examined the artifact, I noted the intricate art and drawings on it. I noted the work that had gone into it. I noted the extreme care that it had been handled with by the ones our Gods had called enemy. This was no Holy Artifact, the Gods who had abandoned me may have blessed it, but they were the False Gods. This Artifact's radiance and purity was false. It was all lies that our Holy Leaders had told us.

I could hear the True Gods speak to me. I could see the Light for the first time. It shined upon me, it touched me and I touched it. It engulfed me in its Purity and I knew what had to be done in the name of the True Light of the Gods.

As I lifted the False Artifact above my head, I could hear the Light telling me what do to.

And so I let it go.

In those brief moments I felt alive and I felt a Purity I had never knew existed. In those brief moments, I felt Free. Free from the False Gods, free from the False Leaders, and free from the False World in which I had been born. In those brief moments, I could see the True Light for the first time. And when the artifact crashed to the ground and shattered, I felt the anger. I felt the hatred. I felt their lies. I felt their tyranny. And I felt the Will of the Gods. Our Purpose had changed over the years and our Holy Leaders had deceived all of us, in the name of the Gods they had changed their Will. But it was not Their Will to change.

Crusader!

Yes, I would be a Crusader, but in the name of the True Light. I could see the True Light of the Gods. I could feel it touch me. I could reach out and grasp it. I became engulfed in the Light. And I could hear my True Gods, telling me what must be done. I could see them in front of me, angry not at me, but at our False Leaders. I knew what had to be done and when I heard them yell the word, I knew what I had to do.

Champion!

I would be their Champion. The True Light of the Gods had chosen me for this Journey. To find this artifact, to learn our mistakes, and to destroy it. To grow under the False Leaders, to adore them, to learn to hate them, and to kill them. I would Purify the Holy Land. My mission was the most Holy of All.

And now, it would go on as a Holy Crusade to kill those deemed Unholy by the Gods. I would hunt them down and I would do the Gods' bidding.

Blasphemer!

That's what they would call me. Unless I taught them the True Light of the Gods, unless I showed them the Light. My Gods gave me all I needed. I would turn the people against our False Leaders and let them see the Light. My Gods would give me the True Light, and I would shine it on my people.

Prophet!

I would be an Instrument of the Gods. A tool to spread Their Words and Their True Light. And I would begin with burning out those who have turned against them.

My Crusade in the name of the True Light had begun.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I began the Crusade by taking the same steps I took to get home. I crossed the deserts of my enemy and exclaimed to them what the True Gods had shown me. I taught them the way of the True Light. I preached the True Ways of Our Gods and they listened. I told the story of Our Gods and they listened. I told them I was their Prophet and they listened. I told them that my Holy Crusade was to rid the Holy Land of the Blasphemers that sat upon the Holy Mosque and they joined my Crusade.

Thousands joined my cause, then hundreds of thousands. They preached the True Ways of Our Gods and they were shown the Light. They took their place at my side and accepted the Light.

They preached the Light, they touched the Light, they held the Light, and they engulfed themselves in the Light. The Light became their reality, and their reality became me.

Prophet!

The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend. But the True Light knows no enemy, for it touches all, and all those touched shall be cleansed. Those who wish to betray the True Light will fall into Darkness.

By the time I was ready to cross the sea of my Gods, I had an Army of Followers and Crusaders at my back. I was ready to return to the Holy Mosque. I was ready to rid the Holy Land of the Blasphemers. I was ready to set the world aflame. I was ready to begin the Purification.

Prophet!

I was ready to show the world the True Light of the Gods and they were ready to receive it.

Crossing the sea was the easy part, but when the False Leaders saw a fleet of a hundred ships approaching their lands, they prepared the Armies of the False Gods. Brothers and Sisters who had not seen the Light. My Brothers and Sisters.

As they saw my flag on the lead ship, the Armies of the False Gods let their guard down. And I hit the beach with the force of a hundred thousand men. The True Light of the Gods had entered the Holy Land, and it was far from stopping.

Prophet!

The word reverberated throughout the Holy Land. The True Light of the Gods would shine on the Land; on my Brothers and Sisters, on the homes of the people, on the Mosque of the False Gods, and it would set them aflame. The Light of the Gods was coming, and it was coming fast.

Blasphemer!

I could hear the False Leaders whispers, I could hear their words of disgust and I could sense the fear, I could see it in their eyes. I could feel it, like I could feel the Light. They were afraid and more importantly, they knew their end was coming.

The first fight began on the third day of our landing when the Holy Leaders exclaimed that I was the False Prophet, me! They turned my old friends against me, used the False Words to bend their Free Will. They called me False when they were preaching the Darkness! My Brothers and Sisters fought me in battle! They could not see the Light! The Darkness had consumed them!

They were the False Words!
I was the Will of the Gods!They were the Desecrated Tools!
I was the Instrument of the Gods!They were the Blasphemers!
I was the Prophet!They were the Darkness!
I was the True Light!They were the Past!
I was the Future!

And it was the Will of Our Gods for me to let them see. I was here to set the world aflame and to bring a Rebirth. Through the Light of the Gods, we would burn down the False Leaders, and Rebuild in the Ashes.

We fought. We killed. We burned those who did not accept the Light. Until we reached the First False Mosque, until we were able to enter it. The fighting stopped when we set the First False Mosque aflame.

Those who saw the fire stopped fighting, they looked into the flames and saw that the False Gods could not protect it. They looked into the flames and saw the Light.

And they joined us. My Brothers and Sisters had now seen the Light. One by one the Light touched them. Until the Armies of the False Gods had soaked in the Light. Until they too touched the Light. Until they too grasped the Light. Until they too were engulfed in the Light. Until they too had accepted the reality of the Light.

They accepted me as their reality. And they knelt to me. The Light had given me the power to take on a new name, a new life, a new army. I would lead those kneeling and we would burn the False Leaders.

The First False Mosque had burned, it was in Ashes and it had been Purified. Those who did accept the Light were left in the Darkness, which surrounded them and took them from this world. The True Light of Our Gods had judged them and left them in the Darkness.
The Light was growing and it was burning the world.

Prophet! Prophet! Prophet!

The Army of the True Light would burn the Holy Land of the Blasphemers and the False Leaders, we would engulf the World in the Light, and leave the Unfaithful in the Darkness.

And I, their Prophet, was leading the flames.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Light burned the countryside, it engulfed the False Mosques, and it bathed the Unworthy in flames. The Light came, it saw, and it created Ash. And in the Ash, my followers built. In the Ash, We rose anew.

New Temples, the Temples of the True Light.

New Homes, the Homes touched by True Light.

New People, Reborn in the Light.

New Weapons of War, bathed in the Fires of the True Light.

A New World, touched by the Light.

They had exceeded my expectations and became not just a crowd of worshippers with pitchforks and torches, but a Legion of the Light, with swords and spears. They had become Crusaders.

The False Mosques fell. The Unworthy plunged into Darkness. The Blasphemers were touched by the Flames of the Light and on their Ashes we built the Sacred Temples. On their Ashes, the Legion of the Light had begun again.

Only one False Mosque remained, the Grand Mosque with the Highest of the False Leaders. They preach to their already dwindling numbers, they preach that We are the Enemy! They preach only hatred and war.

If only they could see the Light!
If only they could grasp the Light!
If only they could engulf in the Light!
If only they could be free from the False Ones!
If only they could live in the Light!

They could take a place, not as lesser beings as the False Leaders proclaim, but as equals! As followers and as the faithful! As preachers and as leaders! As Crusaders and as Speakers!

We Speak of the Light, and the Light hears us.
We Crusade for the Light, and the Light guides us.
We Lead the Light, and the Light follows us.
We Follow the Light, and the Light leads us.
We Preach the Light, and the Light teaches us.
We are Faithful to the Light, and the Light loves us.

The Grand Mosque burned in the Glory of the Light! The Legion of the Light knelt to the Flames and they grew higher! The Blasphemers screams fed the flames as the Light knew their unfaithfulness! Those Unworthy were left in the Darkness, but those who fled to the Light, were welcomed in Its warmth.

Those Reborn came to us, they saw the Way of the Light and it was Bright! We let them touch the Light, we let them grasp the Light, and we let the Light engulf them.

They became Faithful, then Preachers. They became Followers, then Leaders. They became Crusaders, then Speakers! The World was Reborn in the Light!

The Light of the Holy Ones had touched all the land! We had engulfed the world in the Light and left none who wished to be Reborn in Darkness! The Others fell to it, they did not accept the Light, and so the Darkness was given to them! We had begun anew, from the Ashes of the Faithless we had Rebuilt, and from the Light we were given new Purpose!

We are Faithful to the Light, and the Light loves us.
We Preach the Light, and the Light teaches us.
We Follow the Light, and the Light leads us.
We Lead the Light, and the Light follows us.
We Crusade for the Light, and the Light guides us.
We Speak of the Light, and the Light hears us.
______________________________________________________________________________
In the Name of the Light of the Holy Ones, and as their Prophet, I commend this ground Holy! The Grand Temple of the Light shall be built upon my Ashes! As One of the Faithful, I was Reborn in the Light. As a Follower, the Light led me. As a Preacher, the Light taught me. As a Leader, the Light followed. As a Crusader, the Light guided. As a Speaker, the Light heard.

I was their Chosen Instrument, to Lead all of You here today! You became Faithful, and were Reborn in the Light. You Followed, and were Led. You Preached, and were taught. You led, and were followed. You Crusaded, and were guided. You Spoke, and were heard.

Upon my ashes, you will build this Temple!

I was their Will.
I was their Instrument.
I was their Prophet.
I was their True Light.
I was their Future.

Now all of You are their Will, their Instruments, their Prophets, their True Light. All of You are their Future! My Crusade is complete, but Yours has just begun. Speak the Light, and You shall become Enlightened.

Upon my ashes, you will build this Temple.

As their Prophet, I must give up my Flesh.
As their Champion, I must retire my blade.
As the Enlightened, I must join Their side and become One with the Light.

I tried to get across his loss of faith in the beginning, then his conversion, then his kind of "I am their God" type of undertone.

I had a version where he actually spoke to the "False Leaders" instead and talked along the lines of "Faith is all about perspective." So, that version turned into more of a power-hungry knight who went mad with his legion.